Which hand do you write with? Throw a ball? Use a fork? Your "dominant" hand performs these tasks, and for must of you, this is your right hand. Although few people are dominated by their left side, many great people were and are left-handed, such as Oprah Winfrey, 20% of the members of Mensa (the high-IQ society) and seven former U.S. Presidents (not to mention 6 members of the British royal family)!
There are many advantages of being left-handed in baseball. Lefties are good first-basemen because they can catch the ball with their right hand, and tag the base with their left foot. It's better to bat as a lefty, because you're facing first base (and because it makes pitchers have to change the positions of their best pitches!). Even half the batters in the Hall of Fame are lefties!
You are also in an advantage for other sports such as boxing or fencing because most boxers and fencers haven't had a chance to practice with left-handers. Chinese scripture is written from the right to the left, which shows a slight left-handed preference. Also, on a standard English "qwerty" keyboard, an estimated 1,447 words can be types solely with the left hand (compared to only about 187 words with the right). "Stewardesses" is the longest word that can be typed using just the left hand on your usual keyboard.
However, throughout history, left-dominance has been seen as a very evil or unlucky characteristic. In Portuguese, the word for left-handed is canhoto which means mischievous and weak, and for many generations, children were forced to write with their right hand in school. Some cultures even considered lefties to be witches!
Meanings for the word "left" or "left-handed" in different languages include: sinister, wrong, defective, death, bent, awkward, and goofy. Wow, that???s really a "left-handed" complement, isn???t it? Bah dah BOM....
Ancient Egyptians had many theories concerning your left hand. They believed the left side was susceptible to witchcraft and temptation, and the vein of love (vena amoris) ran directly from the heart to the third finger of the left hand. These are two possible reasons why the wedding band is worn on the ring finger of your left hand. Also, kidney medication was always administered using the left hand (similarly, Aztecs always gave liver medication with the right hand). It was considered good luck to enter a house with your left foot first.
Left-handedness also controls your abilities. Some studies say that lefties can often handle music easily, but have trouble with language. Bob Dylan, a lefty, took a month to write the lyrics for "Blowin' in the Wind", but it took him less than 5 minutes to write the music. It is also easier for a lefty to try "mirror writing" than a righty. This skill was mastered by left-handers Lewis Carroll and Leonardo da Vinci.
As I've said, most champion fencers and 20% of the members of Mensa (the high IQ society) are left-dominant, and SAT scores show that lefty students get better math scores. I have noticed that lefties also seem to be drawn towards drawing and painting.
If the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then left-handers must be the only ones in their right mind. =)
-Penny305, your ambidextrous friend.
Editor's Note: What great info, penny305! Could you share with us where you got your intriguing statistics, like the stuff about fencers, keyboards and Mensa? (By the way, as a former fencer, I'll agree that lefties are *really* hard to beat without getting to practice against them regularly!) I see you got a bunch of your information from http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/didyouknow/lefthand2.asp or a similar source...?
